Tank heater



May 3%, 1950 E. M. MARTIN TANK HEATER Filed Aug. 7, 1946 INVENTOR.

[aw/c5 M MART/IV ATTORNEY Patented May 30, 1950 nEATEw H 'EiiuiceM. Mass. Newark; mo.

My in n elate immersed intoatar'rk for heating its contents, as, for instance, a bathtub filled with water.

The general object of: m imvenean. is to provide a tank heaterwhichis simple--inponstruction requires a minimum of servicing, andmay; beheld in continuous readiness for repeate oration.

A more specificobject Of my-in tion is to provide a tank heater adapted for liquid, fuel; particularly. though not exclusively for cornbustible liquids of heavy consistency. A fuel-iof the latter type, is known,,for= instance, underfthe trade name of Sterno."

Additional features and objects will subse quently appear. X

lnrthe drawing. accompanying-this specificaition:

Fig. 1 is a view of a tank heater according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of the heater on a larger scale;

Fig. 3 is a top view of the heater shown in Fig. 3, with part of the cover broken away;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of the closure member.

In accordance with my invention, I provide a preferably spherical heater III which, as shown in Fig, 1, may be immersed into a pan or tank T forming no part of the invention. The body of the heater may have a flat portion I I to rest on the bottom of the tank, or legs (not shown) may be provided for this purpose. The spherical shape affords a maximum heating surface with a given amount of material and, therefore, a given weight. Thus the heater may be built in fairly large proportions without becoming too inconvenient to handle or transport.

The body of the heater is made in two parts, a lower shell I2 and an upper shell or cover l3. The cover may be secured to the shell'l2 in any convenient way, as by a hinge I 4 and a closure member or clamp [5. A handle IE, preferably of heat insulating material, may serve as a convenient means for raising the cover l3 as well as for removing the device from the tank.

The cover I3 is provided with two nipples I! and I8 designed to receive the threaded ends of tubes l9 and 20, respectively. Tube I9 is topped by a pivoted lid 2| and tube by a similar lid 22. Tube 19 represents the air intake pipe and tube 20 the exhaust duct for the fumes. A certain control of the combustion process may be obtained by adjusting the depth to which the tubes are screwed into the respective nipples.

Resting on brackets 23 secured to a diametrically reduced portion of shell I2 is the perforated 194s, Saar-m. 688.820

screen- 24 which divides; the-iris? e er the sphereinto a lower and an 'ueper eampartm lower compartment contains thefuel 2? be termed the cdmbus'tiomcharrib w-h gr-cuppa eempartmeneserve pr reservoir; Thescree'zfzllus rov berofperfora'tionsZeKandm als'o'havea ce frat hole" 2 1 oflargerdiar'neter, maps te' the" o lt of tube 2 0. The mermay-ee lg g renamed match through the tub 2'0. It' 1 well known that alltheheavyfuel 'o ls rom kerosene down will quench a lighted match when i is i thrown intotheoilE "Tolight suclroilsltlir fore, in the present heater; the heater tilted" until so e on gets 'on screen whereupon-alighted niatch is thrown iiiziiin' this screen}; The match will then ignite thesmall' airriouiit of oilbn the screen and will not be quenched. As this small flame begins to burn it will draw more and 20 more fumes from the oil below. These fumes will come up through the holes 26 in screen 24 and will burn like jets on top of the screen. The screen thus has a flame spreading and compressing action which promotes efficient and even heating. The latter hole may also conveniently serve for the removal of screen 24 from shell l2.

An initial clearance 28 should be maintained between the fuel level and the screen 24 if the flame is expected to remain close to the surface of the liquid; on the other hand, where the combustion of the fuel depends primarily on the development of inflammable gases the flame will rise through the perforations 26 and spread over the upper surface of the screen. With fuels of the latter type it may even be advisable to omit the hole 21 inasmuch as the presence of the lighted match above screen 24 should be suificient to ignite the vapors.

A possible construction of the clamp 15 is shown in Fig. 4. There, a pivoted handle 29 is shown bearing with its cam portion 30 against a pivoted ring 3|, thereby forcing the lips 32 and 33 of body portions I2 and I3 to exert pressure upon the packing member 34 which may be an annular rubber gasket of circular cross section. Other quick-acting latching devices may be substituted for the one shown in the drawing or the members l2 and l 3 may be threaded into one another, with omission of hinge I4.

The absolute and relative lengths of the stacks l9 and 20 will generally vary according to the prevailing conditions, such as the dimensions of the vessel to be heated. If desired, tube l9 may be placed at an angle to tube 20 and may likewise project radially from the cover [3.

The mode of operation of my heater follows from its construction. When the fuel is lit, combustion products in the form of smoke will gather around the highest point of the sphere and will find a ready outlet there by way of tube 20. On the other hand, colder air from the surrounding atmosphere will enter the shell I3 at a lower point through tube l9 and feed the flame through perforations 26. It should be noted that the outlet of tube I!) ought to be sufficiently high above the screen 24 to provide a, substantially uniform distribution of the air supply over the surface thereof. To extinguish the flame without waiting for exhaustion of the fuel, it is merely necessary to close lids 2| and 22 on tubes I9 and 20. It will be seen that the latch l5 need only be opened for purposes of cleaning and refuelling.

While I have described a specific embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that departures may be readily made therefrom without exceeding the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A submersible tank heater of the character described comprising in combination, a spherical shell divided horizontally somewhat above the equator into two parts, the upper part being hinged to the lower at one point with an intervening gasketed pressure joint; a latching mechanism whereby said upper part may be quickly opened or locked in a tight position; a pair of air intake and exhaust tubes having hinged lids and being mounted vertically upon said upper hinged part of said spherical shell, the air intake tube being somewhat shorter than the exhaust tube, and a perforated screen mounted inside the lower part of said spherical shell about half way down position; air intake and exhaust tubes mounted vertically upon said hinged upper part of said spherical shell, and a perforated screen removably mounted inside the lower part of said spherical shell about half way down in same, said screen dividing of]? a lower chamber with access only through said perforations through said screen.

EUNICE M. MARTIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 512,191 Hanrahan Jan. 2, 1894 614,034 Stewart Nov. 8, 1898 723,538 Mansfield et a1 Mar. 24, 1903 1,048,795 Bernhard Dec, 31, 1912 1,227,566 Ayling May 29, 1917 1,485,668 Cole Mar. 4, 1924 2,240,283 Breese Apr. 29, 1941 

